1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus and methods for storing data sets, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for allocating storage space for a data set in a database system.
2. Background of the Invention
The amount of data that needs to be managed by enterprises is growing at an extremely high rate. One challenge facing database management systems is allocating sufficient storage space to accommodate a data set that is constantly expanding in size. A customer of a database management service typically must review their data set compared to a current allocation to ensure that sufficient storage space and logical storage units are available for an addition to the data set.
One available database management solution is provided by z/OS provided by International Business Machines (IBM). In z/OS a data set may be stored in one or more volumes. In each volume z/OS makes an initial allocation known as a “primary extent.” The primary extent may then be added upon by “secondary extents.” The number of secondary extents permitted for a volume is 16 for some systems and 123 for systems employing a virtual storage access method (VSAM). The maximum number of volumes permitted for a data set is 59.
In prior systems, the allocation of storage space for a data set was evaluated as soon as an addition to the data set exceeded the current allocation. Accordingly, a user would need to evaluate the current allocation prior to attempting a task to ensure that the task would not fail for lack of space. If additional space was needed, completion of the task would be delayed while extents and/or volumes were added and/or reconfigured to accommodate the increase in size of the data set caused by the specific task.
In view of the foregoing, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a system and method for reducing the need for user intervention and delays resulting from database access tasks that exceed a data set's current allocation.